A Morning Coffee
by moodyaura
Summary: Naoki learns to never, ever trust Kotoko's cooking.


Itazura na Kiss obsession!

disclaimer: not mine. not ever. D:

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The secretary office was comfortably large, with a wide, polished oak desk scattered with the papers of his father's company and manila folders. The black, marble tiled floor was kept clean by the janitors who came in during the night, and they did well in their job to make it shine. A black, leather sofa was placed alongside the edge of the wall, a painting by Hinazao Mizuki directly above it. The walls were painted a matching light gray with one, eight-paneled window giving view of a bustling city street. Sitting in the also black leather office chair was no other than Naoki Irie, who, seeing how there was no one in the room, expressed his lamentations of an uninspired mind by unprofessionally placing his head down against the desk. It was his third day working as a secretary for his father's company, but it was his first day on his own without his father's consultations and guidance. The weight of an entire company seemed to burden his shoulders, and no matter that the statement was not literal- Naoki felt it pull him down to the floor.

An office job was not as easy as it looked, though perhaps the task would be simpler if his father had not placed the company's problem directly into his hands- or so it seemed. The dilemma came from a lack of idea that could burst into a creative notion, providing a safe getaway for the company before it lost any more money and sales. With a sigh muffled by his arm, Naoki failed to acknowledge the quiet _swish _ that indicated the opening of his door. Only when he heard the clicks of heels against the tiled floor and looking up to be face to face with a stupidly smiling face did he realize that someone was, indeed, in the room.

"Naoki-kun, I brought your coffee." He felt an emotion that could be described bluntly as relief; relief being that it was not another stupidly smiling woman that would giggle insipidly at him every second, glancing under from batting lashes, insinuating that he had a very nice structure under that shirt, or if he was busy after his shift ended. He was "relived," so put it, that it was the one stupidly smiling woman he was used to- and she used to his biting remarks. His temper would rise, though his smile would stay in place; though there was no crease in between his brows, there could only be a twitch shown- a quick twitch- using nice words and nice voices to talk to his annoying coworkers. But she received none of his mercy, and unknowingly the pent up frustration would be let out at her through his quick tongue and temper.

He looked at the ceramic cup placed on the tray in her hands and he felt the frustration building up. With a quick motion of his hands as he tried to lengthen his patience, he pointed to the brown-stained rims belonging to the cups and cups scattered across his desk. "I am sick," he said tersely, "Of coffee." Kotoko's eyes widened at the mess upon his desk, her mouth parting to form an o-shape, correctly expressing her realization.

"Oh," she said lamely. Kotoko stood there for a moment, holding the tray dumbly in her hands with a perplexed expression on her face. With her simple minded structure, Naoki could dissect her every thought as they flashed through her face: _Naoki doesn't want the coffee- oh, what should I do? I brought it to him and now he's annoyed with me! _– those were probably her thoughts, he assumed, as his eyes stared at her with amusement and annoyance.

Then, suddenly, she smiled, and she did not walk- she bounced; bounced over to his desk and placed the cup she had specially prepared for him on his desk. Her lips were closed to a wide smile, and his ears heard a sound that could be described as humming. She reached over him, carefully picking up the empty mugs with her hands, placing them one at a time on the tray. "There!" A giggle escaped her lips, a playful giggle that held a secret she would so love to tell him but can't, and her eyes danced merrily as he took a quick look into them. "Bye, Naoki! Faito!" She emphasized the last word with a punch in the air. It was the last thing he saw before she walked out of the room.

That was, perhaps, the quickest visit Kotoko ever made into Naoki's office; she, not even asking if he needed anything else, if he would like her to help him with something, or even peering at him through the tray for a long moment, causing her co-workers to come in and yell at her to get moving. It was the aura of mystery that had put Naoki off-guard, though he suspected it was one of her ridiculous ploys that would end up with her loss. Sighing, he reached over to grasp the cup as he feels his eyes drooping, and looking deeply into the brown-black liquid, he wondered if anyone could mess up making a cup of coffee. Cautiously, his lips touch the rim, lowering the liquid into his mouth, waiting for his first sip of the bitter drink...

Only when he snapped opened his eyes did he realize that they had been closed, as if expecting some horror to appear in front of him- but what could possibly go wrong when drinking coffee? When approximately five seconds had passed with the mug tilted at a 45 degree angle- slowly inching to 90- did he realize that the coffee was not moving. In a swift movement, he turned the cup, holding it upside down from the floor. It didn't budge. Sighing, he put the cup back onto his desk and pushed it away from him, returning once more to the unprofessional demeanor he had on before Kotoko interrupted. Leave it to her to screw up his morning caffeine.

---

The next morning was the same, save, thankfully, the sight of a mass of solid black glop in his cup he had to experience yesterday. The co-workers had not yet interrupted his work yet, though he suspected their arguments on who would serve the coffee first would start up anytime soon. But before he could even let out a sigh of annoyance, Kotoko came bursting into the room, smiling more brightly than ever. Behind her hands she held something, and as she took bouncing steps to his desk, he saw that she had the same, secretive look from yesterday.

His eyes darted at her for a second before returning to the computer screen, his fingers typing away at the keyboard. "It's too early in the morning to deal with you," he muttered, loud enough for her ears to catch, but she laughed.

"Naoki." Her voice sang to him, and she let out a giggle, "Guess what?" He continued typing, knowing that even if he offered her no incentive to speak, she would do so. Finally, Kotoko revealed the hidden secret behind her back: a portable closed pitcher that he recognized as what his family took to picnics. "Do you know what it is?" He said nothing. "You said you were sick of coffee yesterday, so," she drawled out the "o," and brought out from behind her back with her other hand an office mug. Naoki looked up, glancing once at the mug then the pitcher then at Kotoko- his mind thought of only two words: _God, no..._

"I made you some juice!" Kotoko cried. She bit down on her lip, waiting for some reaction on his part. When none came, she went on, "I didn't know what your favorite fruit was, so I asked Auntie, and she said you liked strawberries. She insisted on helping me, but I told her that I could do it by myself- it's only juice, right?" Her hands reached for the pitcher after she set the cup down on his desk, twisting it open. His nose caught the scent of the sweet fruit wafting its way throughout the room.

"The coffee you made yesterday was solid," Naoki said, "And you think you'll be all right with the juice?" At those words, Kotoko nearly dropped the pitcher, only to save it with bumbling, clumsy arms.

"Wh-what?" She splutters, perplexed. "The coffee was solid? But- isn't it suppose to be liquid?"

"That was what I was thinking yesterday when I was holding your cup of coffee upside down."

"Didn't it-...spill?"

"No."

"No?"

"Not at all. It was stuck to the cup."

She made a cry of horror and looked down at the pitcher, shaking it slightly, and her face relaxed with relief when she heard the slosh of juice against the wall. "It's okay! The juice isn't solid." With nimble hands, she pours the drink into the cup, Naoki's eyes watching as the...red? Oh, thank Kami, it was red. He watched as the thick, red liquid slid into his cup. He almost feels relief when his eyes catch a quick sight of green going into his cup.

"Stop." Kotoko straightened the pitcher, her hands reaching for the cap as Naoki made a move to grab the cup, his eyes peering into it to correctly see that, yes, there was a green colored thing in there. "What is this?" He points a finger at the- is it fungus?- thing, Kotoko leaning in to reveal its identity.

"Ah! It's a strawberry leaf! How did that get in there?" Frowning, she reaches in to pull it out, only to be beat by Naoki, who places it on a blank piece of paper on his desk. He rotates the cup, peering into it carefully to spot all unidentified floating debris located in his drink. Kotoko looked at him and let out a short sigh, voice regretful, "I'm sorry. It's not good at all. There's probably more in there. I know you don't what to drink something disgusting, so-" But before she could finish, he tips his head back and drinks the juice in one, two gulps, grimacing once and letting out a cough. "N-Naoki! You drank it!" Her hands cover her mouth in pleasant surprise, but the edges of a wide smile could still be seen by him. "Thank you! Thank you! Did it... taste good?"

"I'm not sure if-...what I drank just now were strawberries," Naoki replied, leaning back into the chair, holding the mug in his hands. His tongue felt a twinge from the slightly sour taste in the drink. His eyes went from the bottom of the mug, which held another green mass, to Kotoko, who eyed him hopefully. He could picture her mashing the strawberries with her fist for an hour, trying to squeeze out some juice before his mother came in, then, failing even more afterwards. A shadow of a smile haunted his lips as he spoke the next line, "But for you, that was all right."

The low hung of her head from hearing his first sentence sprung back to life, grinning from ear to ear at his words. "Really?" She cried, almost jumping up and down from happiness. "I'll- I'll make more tomorrow, Naoki! Thank you!" Kotoko looked at the stack of papers on his desk, "Oh, umm, I'll be leaving now. Sorry for...interrupting." She smiled all the way out, the red flush of pleasure brushed on her cheeks.

The whole afternoon that followed, the co-workers came in to find Naoki busily looking at the company documents, a pitcher and a strange red drink in his hands. Whenever they asked if he would like some coffee, he would stare once at the drink in an odd, amused manner and decline. It was sour, Naoki later realized, as his eyes caught a speck of white in the drink, because she had put tomatoes in it- for whatever reason, he did not know. But then again, he mused, bringing his mug to his lips, love had always been rather bittersweet.

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I love Naoki and Kotoko. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE.

oh, and I hate that last line. I couldn't think of anything, so I just wrote something randomly... grrr...


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